Yodobashi

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There’s a chain of electronics stores in Japan called Yodobashi-[location], and they are CRAZY.  They’re incredibly schizophrenic, with tons of music playing and people calling and signs hanging and displays and sales and etc.  I don’t know how anyone is expected to find something by browsing in a store that crazy and distracting.

 

But the stuff is seriously high-tech.  There were camera mounts in the store worth over $1100.  I mean, this isn’t even the body of a camera, this is JUST some of the optics.  The mounts were as large as my calf, with no exaggeration.  There were also really crazy telescopes on the second floor of the first Yodobashi that we saw.  They were the size of Shaquille O’Neal.  I didn’t even look at the prices.

 

I wanted to get a USB drive to send pictures home to Mom.  I couldn’t find them anywhere after I’d looked through the entire first floor, so I went upstairs.  I managed to pantomime USB to a guy working there, and he said, “U-S-B?”  And I said yes, and he took me downstairs, where he asked if it was for a camera or just plain USB, and I said plain.  I looked around for some cheap ones, 1gb or 2gb.  I think I found one I liked for like $13 or so, but while I was looking, I found one that was ONLY FIVE MILLIMETERS LONG AFTER THE PLUG.  Isn’t that crazy?  I wanted to see it but they kept them behind the counter.  You had to shop by just looking at a card with a picture of the item on it, and then taking it to the counter.  At least for easily stealable things.